Welcome to the Meadowside Nurture Group – Sunshine Class

The Sunshine Room is made up of a discreet group of up to six children, who need support with their social, emotional and mental health problems in school. By offering a safe and predictable structured environment, children are given opportunities to revisit early missed ‘nurturing’ experiences. Children attend regular sessions throughout the week but are expected to return to their mainstream education as full time pupils after three or four terms. A range of structured activities are undertaken that aim to help these young children to develop trust, communication skills and enable growth of their confidence and selfesteem. Our activities often include sharing of news, emotional literacy sessions, turn-taking games, group activities, trips out of school, formal curriculum tasks and the ‘Nurture Breakfast’ whereby the children and teachers share a snack and engage with each other and learn important social skills. Each child’s individual needs are supported and we liaise closely with parents and carers. Our Nurture group is a contemporary approach to inclusive education and is designed to increase the access to learning for children who are often marginalised. In our Nurture group staff respond to the children, not in terms of expectations about ‘attainment levels’, but in terms of the children’s emotional development. Progress is assessed through the Boxall Profile, a structural framework for observation of children’s behavioural, social and cognitive engagement in a classroom. Visits to Meadowside and our Nurture Group are welcomed/ Please telephone school on 01925 632705 and speak to Mrs Groarke or Mrs Skelton-Bayley, to arrange a convenient time to visit.